Hershey announced Wednesday it will be going back to the “classic” Reese’s recipe for the beloved peanut butter and chocolate brand. The announcement comes after the grandson of H.B. Reese posted a note on Valentine’s Day to Hershey’s Manager of Corporate Brand and Editorial Todd Scott on LinkedIn.
In a report from CBS News, Reese’s products are traditionally made with milk chocolate or dark chocolate and peanut butter, however, the popular Reese’s mini-Easter eggs “are now made with a coating that contains less chocolate.”
“How does The Hershey Company continue to position Reese’s as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (milk chocolate and Peanut Butter) that built Reese’s trust in the first place,” Brad Reese wrote in his post. “As the grandson of the man who created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, I’m not asking for nostalgia. I’m asking for alignment. For truth in Reese’s brand stewardship. For a corporate narrative from The Hershey Company that reflects the Reese’s product consumers are actually receiving.”
Hershey will reportedly go back to the “classic” Reese’s recipe in 2027 and also make changes to another popular brand, Kit Kat. That includes ‘transitioning to natural colors and enhancing KitKat’s recipe to make it creamier.”
H.B. Reese started the H.B. Reese Candy Company in 1923, according to Hershey Archives. Additionally, long after the founders of both companies died, the sons of Milton Hershey and H.B. Reese struck a deal to exchange “666,316 shares of Hershey Chocolate Corporation stock for the assets and business of H. B. Reese Candy Company and its affiliate, Reeco, Inc,” the Hershey 1963 Annual Report reads. “These shares were purchased by the new subsidiary following an offer to all stockholders to tender stock at the market price of $34.50 per share.”
Dining and Cooking